October Third
by mmm donut seeds
Summary: Ed perched on a high roof, overlooking the city. He was blood spattered, but that was to be expected as he was new to the world of vampires. The moon barely illuminated his silhouette, casting a glow on the sleeping city. Short little fic. No pairings.R
1. Chapter 1

"Where the Hell are you taking me!"  
"Don't worry, relax. I'm not going to maim you, this time. You're needed for something."  
Envy was being out of character with his treatment of Edward, who was no longer trying to struggle. Envy almost actually felt sorry for the kid, but this was as close as he got to showing it. After all, what they had planned was worth than death. That was why Dante was going to do it. Dante might also have gone insane, after coming back from being eaten by Gluttony and all. Only a few of the homunculi were remaining, Envy and Gluttony. The rest had died one way or another, and Envy had been feeling impatient. It was the same feeling he got when he was bored, and there was something that was supposed to happen, but had been delayed by something or another. He hated the feeling with a passion.  
"You aren't? What the fuck happened?"  
Maybe he was feeling this way because everything was finally over, and they were going to have to settle into something that resembled normal.  
Bleh, he hated normal.  
"I can change that, if you want."  
Ick, he was asking for Ed's opinion. What was wrong with him?  
"Where are we going?"  
"Use your brain for once, pipsqueak. Then again, maybe it's just as small as you, just about nonexistent."  
That was a little more like it, the same seething hatred that had driven him for so long was making another appearance.  
"I told you, I won't make the stone."  
"We're not looking for the stone anymore. We need something else from you."  
"What else do I have to offer to you? You know fucking well that I won't help you, with anything."  
Envy pushed open the giant doors and dumped the alchemist on the floor before leaving. He would have stayed, but to be honest, the creature they were about to unleash scared the fuck out of him. Maybe that was why he had been acting oddly, Envy never got scared. He thought he was too far gone for that. Yet, there was that small part of him that persisted to make him want to live. It wouldn't die no matter how hard he tried to squish it. It had become a pet project of sorts. This also meant that he had to examine himself, looking for a weakness in this one source of fear, which led to complicated things that he had no desire to understand. He smiled, this part would be over soon.  
Ed was confused, to put it simply. As far as he knew he was alone, and it didn't look like anyone was coming for him. The doors were locked, and he would have tried to escape with alchemy if he wasn't so curious as to what they wanted with him. He sighed, and started to pace. Al was going to wonder where he was, and get worried. This could not be good. He really should leave. A flash of movement made him spin, and he decided it really was better if he left. Unfortunately, before he could move again, he was pinned to the floor, and then unconscious.  
Al was getting worried, his brother hadn't shown up for an entire day by now. While he realized that he could take care of himself, Al was really attached. He loved his brother, and knew how much trouble he could get into. There was nothing he could do though, so he waited.  
Ed didn't wake up again until the next day, and that was only because of Envy's relentless attempts to prod anger out of him. Envy, being bored, had decided to mess with him. He didn't really know exactly what was going on, not having listened to Dante when she had explained the entire thing, and as a result, was surprised when Ed did not stir when he was shoved out of the bed. He didn't even so much as twitch when he was suspended from the roof by his ankles, and remained perfectly still while Envy severed the ties and he landed flat on his face. Now, as a last resort, Envy was sitting cross legged at the end of the bed and insulting Ed with every name he could think of. This had been going on for an entire day nonstop, and Envy was still going strong. To his annoyance, so was Ed. It wasn't until an hour later that Envy had exhausted his extensive list of curses, and was making things up. Now he was coming up with explicit ways to torture, and explaining them. Ed still didn't move.  
"Are you retarded or something?" Envy asked the sleeping alchemist, but there was no reply. It was by now expected, but Envy had not yet given up. Gluttony came in then, holding a wine glass filled with something red, which Envy identified as blood. Ed's eyes opened, and narrowed in on the glass.  
"Give me."  
"'Give me'? Maybe you are retarded."  
Gluttony gave the glass to Ed, and it was gone within seconds. Ed sighed in relief, and got out of the bed.  
"Where are you going?"  
Ed didn't say anything, just left the very confused Envy. Last time he checked, the alchemist was very vocal, and here he was, barely saying two words. Perhaps he should have listened to Dante when she explained exactly what they had done to him. In any case, Envy left as well, with intents to follow him. It wouldn't do them any good if Ed somehow managed to escape. However, the alchemist, for all intents and purposes, had disappeared. Since when could he be that sneaky? Envy had seen him not even a second ago. Something strange was definitely going on...  
Ed perched on a high roof, overlooking the city. He was blood spattered, but that was to be expected as he was new to the world of vampires. The moon barely illuminated his silhouette, casting a glow on the sleeping city. Before the change, he would have chuckled to himself about the time he had been so hungry he had wished the moon was cheese so that he could eat it, but those memories were gone. Equivalent Exchange, he was immortal, and he had lost the thing that was most important to him. His brother, and any hint of his humanity. Chances were, he was not going to get either of them back either. From here, he felt strong, powerful, and in control. In a sense, he was now, in another, he was more bound than he ever had been. He had just exchanged them for other things.  
Eventually, Ed got down from the roof and went down into the city, keeping close to the shadows. He was done with eating, he just wanted to familiarize himself with the city. It was quiet and empty, which he liked. Humans were interesting, he decided. But they were weak, which he hated. The weak died, and counted on others to protect them. They were a waste. Not having another option as to a place to stay, eventually he went back to the mansion and showered, ridding himself of the excess blood. He clapped his hands and transmuted the blood from his clothes, sending it down the drain. Now clean, he put them on. He watched the mirror as he braided his hair, slightly amused that he had no reflection.  
When he started walking down the hall, he felt something in his pocket. He took it out and examined it, a watch. It seemed familiar. He opened it, and inside was an inscription written in an unsteady hand. The writing filled him with a sense of loss and terror at the same time, and he flicked it closed. There were too many questions that he didn't have answers to in the single piece of writing.  
Envy was pissed, to put it lightly. He had given himself the task of watching the boy, and then he had gone and disappeared. Now he had the gall to just appear again?  
"Where the hell have you been?"  
Ed didn't answer, not feeling the need to. The being that was not human was not of any interest to him, the only thing that was he had in his pocket. He wanted to know who he had been, and why he had to remember october the third. He also had no desire to give away the fact that he had no memory, and appearing weak.  
"Come on, pipsqueak. Tell me, or you'll regret not saying anything."  
Envy was at loss, prodding people into saying things had never been this difficult. Maybe that was because he was not normally the one in charge of doing it. He had hoped to spark some kind of reaction, any kind of reaction, but he was met with silence. He aimed a punch at the exposed back, attempting to force the answers out, but too quickly Ed was out of the way. Ed's eyes were narrowed, and Envy noticed there was a slight difference. Instead of being round, his pupil was a cat like slit. Envy aimed a kick, which Ed caught and then used the captured leg to flip his opponent. Envy growled, and came at him again. Each time Ed managed to get out of the way, and Envy noticed that he was faster, and maybe a tiny bit more powerful. Neither let up, until Ed started actually trying to end the fight. He was bored, and had other things to do, such as find where he had gotten the watch. Envy was unable to keep up, and for once, he felt tired. He was panting on the floor from exertion. Ed turned, without a word, and left. It was helpful to know what exactly Envy's limits were.  
When morning came, Ed completely and entirely disappeared. Envy could not find him, no matter how hard he searched, which was pretty hard, all day. Even spying on Al was no help, not that he expected he knew where the alchemist in hiding was. When Ed finally made an appearance after the sun went down, Envy was finally able to relax. The cool and intimidating manner the alchemist had was unnerving, and Envy was beginning to wonder whether he was planning revenge. He gave up trying to keep an eye on him all the time, instead using the time for other Envy related things.  
Ed was finally able to find where the watch was, the military. Why he was in the military, when he was so much younger than the others was beyond him, but he didn't question it. He went through folder after folder, trying to find his name. The building was big, and there were a lot of offices to go through. That, and he was beginning to get hungry. He sighed, and arranged the papers back into their original order. It wouldn't do for them to know someone was sneaking around. He left, ate, and went home. By tomorrow he would be able to finish his search, and hopefully find what he was looking for. If he didn't, he would have to start from scratch all over again. The prospect was not one that he was looking forward to. In addition, the longer he took, the less likely he was to find it. There was something about the city in the middle of the night that was enchanting, he felt like he could spend all night wandering through the winding streets. He put his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall of the alley, tilting his face to the moon. It illuminated the traces of blood that lingered on his lips, and the deep shadows under his eyes. It also called attention to the pale skin, paler than it had been in the past, and the more beautiful features that were marked with a certain cruel darkness. He closed his eyes and allowed himself the few seconds of peace, free of worrying about who he was, and who he had been. It had to end though, and he pushed himself off the wall and resumed his walk back to the Victorian mansion that he now called home.  
There was a distinct feeling of unsettlement, with a tinge of distress that wafted through the halls. Gluttony was sitting in front of a room Ed had never bothered looking in, as it was shut all the time, looking scared.  
"What happened?" Ed asked the homunculous, crouching down to his level. Gluttony looked at him, strange moaning noises rising from his throat.  
"Master... she's... dead..."  
Ed stood, patting the monster on his bald head. He then opened the door, unsurprised to see a corpse on the floor. What did come as a slight shock was that it was already most of the way rotted. It looked to be a young woman, with black hair that came down barely to the shoulders. Ed grimaced in disgust, and moved the body outside, transmuting it into the earth. When he was done he brushed his hands off, and went to see what he could do for the distressed Gluttony. Envy had beaten him to it though, it seemed. Envy was yelling at him, kicking him, slapping him, trying to make him lucid again. He backed off to sneer at Ed when he approached.  
"Well, if it isn't the great and allusive alchemist. What are you doing here? This is not any of your business, so go away."  
"Yes, because you're so good at being compassionate. I'm sure that Gluttony appreciates you physically abusing him, however, I don't. Gluttony, it's ok."  
"Since when did you start caring about us?!? Last time I checked, you were trying to kill us any chance you got."  
Ed ignored this, storing the piece of information away for another time.  
"Where's Lust?"  
It was rather unfortunate that Ed had lost his memory, otherwise he would have been able to answer in a way that was comforting. Instead, he had to improvise.  
"Come on, you'll be ok."  
Gluttony focused on Ed's face, mentally replacing Ed with Lust.  
From then on, Gluttony was inseparable from Ed, when he could be found. Envy was slightly glad he wasn't stuck with the broken homunculous, but more frustrated that Gluttony was better at keeping track of the alchemist than he was. Ed had discovered what he had been doing in the military, he had been a Major that had gone missing. He knew all that was on the file, but didn't have much of a ground on what his personality had been, and what was off file. It irked him, and now he had no idea what he was to do. He couldn't go back to his little brother, he hardly knew him. He also had no desire to stay here, though it was obvious that Gluttony needed him. The little monster was incredibly dependent, which Ed didn't really handle well. Gluttony also somehow held a charm, maybe it was that he was complacent with eating the bodies so that Ed would not be discovered. It was only a matter of time though, until he was discovered. He was wondering through the streets, again, when he saw today's paper. Skimming it, he decided that the killer they were looking for was him. The faces of those missing looked familiar enough. He dumped it in the nearest trash can.  
When he entered the foyer of the home, Gluttony was at his side. There was only so long Ed allowed Gluttony to be at his side before deciding he would rather walk through the city alone. While it made the monster a bit depressed, he was happy to eat as frequently as he did and have company. Envy was bored out of his mind. Always he had been involved in some plot, but now there was no plot to be involved in. He had been trying to start his own take over, but he simply didn't have the skills to think it all the way through and call the shots. He didn't even have anybody to terrorize anymore.  
"We have to stop this killer," Roy said, referring to the mysterious disappearances. "First we'll search laboratory five, and then there was another place Fullmetal mentioned before he vanished that we'll need to check. A mansion, in the middle of the woods."  
No one wanted to go back to the place that seemed haunted, but they did it anyway. There were too many memories here, of the chimeras, of all the close calls. The place didn't smell pleasant either, which didn't help anything. The place was empty though, which they couldn't tell if it was a blessing or a curse. Roy made a mental note to have it brought to the ground, the place was entirely evil. All of them were glad to get out of there when they did, the place was vile and disgusting. Not that their next stop was rainbows and butterflies.  
The door came down with a large bang, just as the sun was beginning to set. Roy gave silent orders for them to spread out, methodically checking the seemingly abandoned rooms. Envy was in the cellar in an attempt to find the allusive Edward in the time that he disappeared, Gluttony was waiting silently in the corner. At the bang Ed's eyes snapped open.  
"So this is the hiding place of the brat, eh?"  
"Sh, there's someone here. Gluttony, come on. Let's go meet our guests."  
Envy was already up the stairs, leaning against the wall of the kitchen.  
"Who are you?"  
Fuery jumped, not having had heard a sound.  
"I am Colonel Roy Mustang. Who are you?"  
"You're intruding."  
Why wasn't he dead already? Envy had no remorse, he should just kill the man. Why? Because he was a human. Humans deserved to die, for playing God.  
Ed was hesitant to come out of the shadows and make his presence known, as he knew Roy had been someone he knew. His eyes were glowing a brilliant yellow, even if they were barely slits.  
"Yes, it would be best if you left," Ed agreed. His tone was chilling. All of them spun to face the other voice, and Havoc's cigarette drop from his mouth. A black boot ground it out.  
"Fullmetal?" Roy's eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed dangerously with suspicion. "What are you doing here?"  
"Can I eat him?"  
"No Gluttony. At least, not yet. As I said earlier, you might want to leave."  
"As your superior officer, I demand that you tell me what is going on here."  
"A lot has changed, Roy. I'm not sure how long I can keep Gluttony back. And you don't want to get involved in that mess." His tone was almost mocking.  
"What happened to you?"  
"Envy, if you would show them out?"  
Very shortly several people landed on their faces outside. Roy rubbed his face where Envy had kicked it.  
"Ow."  
"Was that really..?"  
"I don't think so, but there aren't any other explanations that I can come up with. He doesn't have the tattoo..."  
"What do we tell Al?"  
Roy turned on his subordinate with a face that clearly read "you are about to die". Havoc resisted the urge to scream and run for the hills, he was that scared.  
"If you say anything, if he even gets the notion, you will wish that I twisted a pen through your gut until it came out the other side before forcefully removing each of your fingers and toes. That, in comparison to what I will do to you, will seem merciful. Do I make myself clear?"  
Havoc passed out, and Mustang left him there, knowing that Fuery and Hawkeye would drag him back to the car. From then on Havoc avoided Mustang and Al like the plague.  
"Sir? What did you tell him to make him act like that?" Neither Hawkeye nor Fuery had been in hearing range of the deadly Colonel.  
"Some things are better left to the imagination," Roy said with a smirk, leaving the lounge. He was slightly surprised when he saw Ed perched on his desk, going through several papers at once. Tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.  
"What are you doing here?"  
Ed sighed. There was no easy way to put this. "I need help."  
"Why should I help you?"  
Maybe this had been a mistake. Ed got off the desk. "I... I don't know. I'm just... I can't remember who I was... and I don't like who I am. I'm sorry I bothered you."  
"What do you mean, you don't remember who you were?"  
"I don't... know. I... just don't... I should know who you are, right? I mean, you are... at least were... my commanding officer, right? So I should know who you are, but I don't. I don't remember getting the automail, or what I did to get the automail. I don't know my little brother, or where I grew up, or anything. In fact, I only know about these things is because I read my file."  
"You don't remember... anything?"  
"No."  
"What's the last thing you do remember?"  
"Waking up, in that house."  
Roy was a bit shocked, the kid was almost acting his age, and he was _scared_. What was more, was that he was looking to Roy for comfort.  
"You've been missing, there was a fight, a riot. You disappeared. We thought you were dead."  
"Thank you."  
"You might want this too, it's a scrapbook of you and Al that Winry asked me to give you for your birthday."  
"Winry?"  
"She's your friend, she made you the automail."  
"Oh. Again, you have my thanks."  
Several years later Ed was perched on the tip of a roof that looked over Central. It was the closest he allowed himself to being a part of the city, ever since that evening he went to visit the Colonel he had refused himself contact with any of the people he had known in his former life. When he had looked through the book, none of his memories came back. How could he go back when he didn't even know the people he had grown up with anymore?  
How could he remember October the Third, today's date, when all his memories were gone?


	2. Chapter 2

Even with his brother gone, Al never gave up trying to create the philosopher's stone. It was something that he brother would have wanted him to do, becoming real again. Eventually he did too, after a lot of almost dying and time. He had married Winry when they were both old enough, and now she was pregnant with his child. The plot of land he had lived in as a child was cultivated, and a house was nestled on the hill. Al never stopped missing Ed, but time dulled the ache, or he got strong enough to live with it. Fuhrer Mustang was not really a friend, but more like an acquaintance, and they chatted every once in a while.

Ed became all but invisible. No one saw hide nor hair of him, except for the people he killed because he had to. He traveled a lot too, seeing all sorts of places. Eventually he decided to go back to Central, as he missed the large city that he had haunted for so long. There was no way for him to know that he had picked the same night Al and Winry would be in town, celebrating their first anniversary.

When Al saw the bright blonde ponytail, he thought he was dreaming, but Winry's eyes had the same look of disbelief. They both stood up, leaving some money on the table.

"Ed?"

Ed froze, this was not good. Having people recognize him, after he had been reported dead, was a very bad thing. Not that he was looking forward to having a conversation with people that he didn't remember.

"No, you're mistaken."

Ed began walking again, thinking that the fake voice would be enough to discourage any further attempts at conversation. He was wrong.

"What the hell? Where have you been? I thought you were dead..."

"I don't know what..."

"How can you not recognize your own brother?" Winry was beginning to become pissed, recovering from the shock.

Ed's eyes narrowed, drawing attention to the black slit that served as a pupil. "I don't ever want to see either of you again," he hissed.

Al looked like he had been slapped in the face. "What happened to you?" The words were interwoven with hostility, hurt, and accusation.

"Good question."

In the shadows, Gluttony was getting antsy. He didn't like being away from Ed for long, especially after what had happened to Lust. The streets were mostly clear, and it was tempting for him to come out of his hiding place, even if Ed had told him explicitly to stay out of sight. He shifted his weight, not wanting to disobey, but wanting to be close.

"Have you been taking care of your automail?" Winry asked abruptly. This could be sorted out later, but she was worried about him deep down.

Ed's facial expression went into shock for a second, and then he lifted the sleeve of his shirt. The metal glinted in the moonlight, drawing attention to all of the different modifications that had been done.

"It functions."

"That's good. You'll probably need a tune up, it's been..."

"No, I won't. I appreciate your concern, but I've got to get going."

"Wait." Winry grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving, and it took years of perfected self control not to throw her off of him. He found that natural reactions were nearly impossible to resist as a vampire, not that he knew what it was like as a human. "Promise you'll write, or visit."

"I can't promise anything," Ed replied, his voice going from slightly chilly to relaxed again. Though he didn't know her, Winry seemed like a genuinely nice person. She frowned, but made no further comment. Somehow she realized that she wouldn't get anything better out of him because that was the best he could offer her.

"Ed?" A small voice rang out from the alley.

"It's ok Gluttony, stay there just a little longer."

"Gluttony!?! You're with the homunculi!?!"

"I admit, Gluttony has become a bit of an companion. What of it?"

"Have you forgotten that they've tried to kill us multiple times!?! Have you forgotten all the times they've manipulated us? Do you not remember what happened in Lior?"

"Doesn't matter. As a threat, they've been neutralized. Their leader died a few years back."

"Dante's... dead?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Her body rotted beyond repair."

"Then who's still gathering the souls?" The question was muttered under Al's breath, but Ed still caught it. Another reminder not to pursue the relationship they once had.

"It was nice seeing you Ed, but we need to get home. I'm tired."

Al was confused as to how she could treat him like that, almost like they were people who had just met each other when there was so much between them. He was just as shocked as to how Ed could react the same way. It was like they were practically strangers or something.

Ed would have left the city later that evening, if it weren't for the fact that a silver bullet somehow lodged itself in his shoulder. His eyes scanned the area, looking for the attacker. He spotted the attacker within seconds, and hissed madly before dashing across the street. The attacker was fast though, and was out of the way before Ed could hit him. Ed transmuted his arm, and then dodged the kick aimed at his head. It shot out of nowhere, Ed only knew where it was coming from because of his fighting experience. He sliced the ankle, hitting a tendon. He needed to get out of here, he couldn't fight this person with one arm useless.

The other person hissed, leaning against the wall before pushing himself off, drawing a knife. Ed let go of his shoulder, which he had been holding in pain. The damn thing hurt like a freaking bitch. He got out of the way just in time, and took a chunk of flesh out of the other's side.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The other gave no answer, instead lunged again. The attacks were slower, but he still managed to land a couple of hits. Then, without warning, he, she, it, disappeared.

"Holy mother of fucking bitch," Ed cursed, holding his shoulder. He slumped against the alley wall, knowing that he needed to get the bullet out somehow, but not wanting to stretch it like that. The arm that had been hit was being completely useless. Tearing a strip off the bottom his undershirt, he bandaged the cuts he had taken. There was one that went between his ribs, not even coming close to clearing past the bone. There was also a slight graze to his neck, where he had been a second too slow. He didn't bother with that one, instead moving on to the rather deep one on the arm that had been shot. Now that he wasn't going to bleed to death and infection was less likely to set in, he went to the one person who could help him, maybe.

Fuhrer Mustang seemed untouched by time, refusing to accept that he was not, in fact, getting any younger. The only change that had actually taken place was that some silver emphasized the rich black of his hair. He was still the puppy loving, paper signing slacking, jerk that we all know and love. Currently, he was taking a moment to bask in the glory of his success. As usual, though not recently, he was interrupted by the blonde teenager he had chosen to help. Why he had done that, he still wasn't sure.

Ed had managed to get into the building unnoticed, not that it was particularly hard as most of the staff had taken off for the evening. He opened the door to the office, entered, and promptly shut it. Roy looked up in slight shock, he had been convinced he was never going to see his former subordinate again.

"What are you doing back here?"

"I need help, I can't reach it, and I have to get it out."

"Get what out?"

"The bullet, in my shoulder."

Roy stood up and knelt next to it, assessing the damage. It was buried deep, but not too deep. He picked up a pair of tweezers.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, I was talking to Al, and then someone shot me. After we fought some, he, she, it, left. I don't know where."

In the pause, Roy extracted the bullet. Ed grit his teeth, hard. That fucking hurt like a bitch.

"Where's Gluttony and Envy? Shouldn't they be the ones helping you?"

"No. Gluttony's not smart enough, and I don't know or care where the fuck Envy is. For all I know, he's dead. After I left, I haven't had anything to do with Envy."

"Do you know who's behind the killings?"

"Killings?"

"There have been murders all over Central over the last month, all from the same person."

That took care of that problem, Ed hadn't even been in Central for a month.

"No, I'm sorry. If I see anything, you'll be the first to know." Ed paused for a second. "What happened to your eye?"

"It was lost in a fight with a homunculous. I had to take this position by force. Why do you still look like you haven't aged at all?"

"Occupational hazard of being immortal."

"Does Al know?"

"No. All he knows is that I'm still alive, well, kind of alive. He thinks I'm alive."

"Kind of alive?"

"Undead ish, I think is the term," he stated knowing full well that Undead ish is not a term. "Ok, vampire."

"So you're..."

"No, I just got here earlier this evening."

"But you do have to drink blood."

"Yes."

Roy nodded, and propped his feet on his desk. "So, are you going to be sticking around?"

"Maybe."

The sound of his black combat boots filled the otherwise silent hall with noise as the adolescent made his way to his superior's office. He slammed the door open, not caring about the hole that had been left in the wall from the force.

"I thought you said he was new!"

The older man sighed, he knew the kid was too young, too untrained to go out on the field yet. He shouldn't have let him insist on going, alone no less. What had he been thinking?

"I told you it was too early. Did you get him?"

"Yeah, he'll be dead probably within the hour. Three slices with the knife, and then a shot with the gun to the back of the shoulder."

"Where?"

"One to the throat, though it barley nicked it, one to the ribs, pretty deep, and then another to the arm."

"Not bad, I assume he's incapacitated then?"  
"I think so, he was bleeding pretty heavily, and since he's new, I don't think he'll know how to deal with the pain. Combined with the fact I used silver... he's as good as dead. He was a lot better than I thought he would be though, comparatively I barely nicked him. He had some kind of knife, tore me up pretty bad. Almost got silver poisoning."

"He had silver?" The shock was not contained in his voice, new vampires, new vampires with no experience with vampires no less, did not carry silver weapons. It was not a common material to use for weapons.

"Yeah. I admit, I thought it was a little odd..."

"A little odd!?! No one carries silver knives!!!"

"Then why..?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. You go make sure your wounds are properly stitched up, it looks like he did a number on you."

"That's the understatement of the century. I feel like I just got ran over by a truck."

Leo made his way to the sick bay to get himself checked out, to make sure he was going to heal as fast as possible. He almost felt bad for the vampire, dying of silver poisoning was painful from what he knew. Maybe he should look for him, and end it quickly. Nah, this happened all the time. Besides, the bullet would kill him quickly.

"First trip down here Leo?"

The girl with brunette hair was heading the same direction, even though Leo couldn't see any visible wounds.

"Uh yeah. How could you tell?"

"Haven't seen you down here before. I'm Whitney."

"Nice to meet you, Whitney."

"Why are you even here?" she asked suddenly, and a bit harshly. He faltered for a second.

"What?"

"Why are you here? You're weak, and soft. You don't belong here, this isn't a game."

She brushed past him angrily, leaving him to falter a few more seconds before he resumed walking.

After going to the sick bay, he wandered aimlessly through the building before finally deciding to finish the job on the vampire. No one deserved to die of silver poisoning, that was simply a too painful way to die. He cursed his lack of aim, even though he had been sure to aim a direct shot at the back of the head, and grabbed his coat on the way out.

It didn't take him long to find the dark alley, and with another pang of pity he realized that the vampire must be in intense pain from the sun. While it was only lethal in direct sunlight, it was still really painful. Today there was a light cloud cover overhead, and combined with the special ointment that had been developed, it wasn't that painful for him. His coat helped too.

He pulled out his gun, cocked it, and entered the alley. It was still dark, the tall buildings on either side blocking the rays. Vampires are unpredictable, he reminded himself. They could be anywhere. He checked the entire ally twice before coming to the conclusion that the vampire was gone, which was not a good sign. It was becoming glaringly obvious that this vampire was not normal,

He put the gun away, there was no use in keeping it out. In fact, the only thing he did seem useful for right now was going back and reporting that the vampire had disappeared. He had never felt so useless in his life. Leo had actually never been useful, it was actually a mystery as to why he was in this entire thing to begin with. He wasn't particularly anything, he wasn't strong, he wasn't good with computers, he had a problem with killing anything, he wasn't really attractive, not that it would have anything to do with this, and he didn't have some sort of secret information that he could give them. He chose not to dwell on this though, and resumed his walk. Mostly he was trying to figure out where this vampire would have gone, when he bumped into a man carrying a bag of groceries.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Here, let me help you up." The man reached out to him and helped him up without any visible effort. Leo ignored it, and pulled himself up. Yeah, so what if he was feeling a bit useless?

"I'm fine, really. Hey, do I know you from somewhere?"

"No, I don't think I've ever seen you before." Leo paused for a second, trying to place the face. Then he remembered where he had seen the man before. "Oh yeah, I remember now..." He shut his trap when he realized that it would be better not to have said anything, but it was too late. Yeah, maybe he truly was useless.

"Where?"

"Um... no, that must have been someone else," he lied, hoping the man would buy it. Al, of course, did not. He shook his head.

"Why are you lying?"

"Um... uh..." Leo shifted his weight, waiting for something to distract Al. Nothing did. "Last night..."

Al's eyes turned stormy, a mix of confusion, anger, and worry. "Oh. Well, um, have a nice day then." Both started walking, Al wondering just what had happened. There had been a loud shot behind him, and then silence, his brother nowhere in sight.

By the time night had fallen, Ed felt very alive and well. He had hid in Roy's basement, not that his former commander knew that. What he didn't know couldn't hurt him. He settled into a very unused and particularly dark corner before falling asleep.

Leo was still wandering through the streets, looking for the vampire that was supposed to be in the alley, by the time the street lights flickered on. He had gone back after his encounter with Al, but had been sent out to clan up the mess he had started. He made a mental note that next time he had to fight a vampire, he was going to kill it right then and there so it didn't have time to get away. He kicked a piece of trash in the alley viciously and continued to stomp down it. He was tired, and he was hungry, and he wanted to go home.

Ed was watching from a nearby roof, kind of amused, kind of trying to figure out what the kid was looking for. He had gone up and down this same alley twice already. Ed had already eaten, so he had nothing else that really needed to get done that night.

"Come on you stupid vampire, I want to go home. Where the hell did you drag yourself off to?"

"Oh, are you talking to me? Because I'm by no means stupid."

Ed lithely jumped down from his perch on the lamp post that was nearby, it was closer than the roof he had been on.

"But... y-you're..."

"I'm what? Come on, you didn't think you really killed me, did you? The shot hurt, but I'm ok. Now, tell me just what the hell you were trying to do."

"T-the agency o-ordered me to kill you."

"What agency?"

"How are you even still alive?"

"You really are new to this, aren't you? Well, a shot to the shoulder is not, in fact, fatal. If you value your life, you won't try to bother me again. Understood?"

"...Brother?"

"I'm not done with you yet," he warned Leo, and then turned his attention back to the adult that stood in the mouth of the alley. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I thought I heard your voice. What happened? You just disappeared..."

"You haven't even told your own brother? That's just plain pathetic." Leo reached for the silver knife he kept in his pocket. Ed's eyes glinted dangerously, reflecting the poor lamp light.

"Haven't told me what?"

"Forget it, it's not important. And if you even think of stabbing me with that knife, you'll regret it."

"What're you talking about?"

"He's a vampire now. Or did you just forget that tiny detail, you blood sucking fiend."

"Ed?"

Ed growled at Leo. "When I'm done with you, you will wish that you're dead."

"It's ok, we'll help you. We'll get through this."

"I don't need help. I just want that guy dead."

"Leo! What have I told you about involving civilians? I'm sorry sir, but I'll have to ask you to leave. This man in a dangerous criminal."

"He's not a criminal," Al replied. "You must be confused."

"I'm not confused. Really. I know him."

"Leo, would you please take him out of here while I take care of this?"

"No! I'm not leaving my brother!"

"Al, you really should go. This is not going to be pretty."

"You think it was pretty when we tried bring mom back? Or when I saw you die? You think it was pretty in Liore? I'm used to not pretty. It would be hard not to, considering I'm the brother of the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Fullmetal Alchemist? That's you? Perhaps we could offer him a position or something?"

"No, I knew it was too early to let you do this. We don't make offers to people that were changed outside of our control."

"But he's..."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Thank you for stating the obvious. He was,though, is not now. Everyone knows that vampires, if not controlled properly, are nothing but a public menace."

"Because I'm sure that vampires can be controlled. Who the hell do you think you are?"

Quince loaded his gun and cocked it, and then looked up at Ed.

"Doesn't matter when you're dead."

He raised his gun, but Ed was already on the ground, both palms on the ground. A piece of Earth knocked the weapon from his hands.

"What the..?"

Ed wasn't done though, he wrapped his metal arm around the man's neck, sharp blade pressed to throat.

"It's people like you who _really_ piss me off. But, today, you're in luck. I don't kill people just for the fun of it."

Ed smashed the fist to the top of Quince's head, satisfied when he toppled over like a ton of bricks. Golden eyes turned to Leo.

"It would probably be in your best interests to leave now."

"But what about..?"

"Ed! Why did you do that? Why do you always have to resort to violence?"

"Because, if you didn't notice, they were going to kill me. Why the fuck are you still here?"

"Well... I... I wanted to ask you some questions."

"Look, kid. I'm really running out of patience. As you can see, I'm also rather busy. Now is not a good time."

"I... wanted to say that I'm sorry then. That must have really hurt, the whole silver thing."

"In any case, I'm fine now. You don't seem like an actually horrible person, I hope for your sake we don't have to meet again."

"I'm... glad? Look, you really should get out of here. They're going to be looking for you more than ever now."

"Why don't you just leave?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it makes sense. You can come with brother and me to figure stuff out."

"No, my whole life is this. I can't just leave it."

"I'm not going with you Al."

"What? Why not? We were going to find a way to make you human again, and then..."

"I don't need to change, really. I'm fine."

"No you're not! You eat people!"

"So? That's the way I am now."

"What about me? I want to be human," Leo said.

"Wait, you're a..?"

Leo nodded once, the movement was fast and jerky. He smiled. "You get used to it after a while, but..." his expression fell. "I'd still like to be human."

"Fine, you two can go with each other then. Problem solved."

"No! No, I'm not leaving you again! I... can't lose you again."

"Al, there's something you should know, before you get too hopeful. I don't remember anything since when I woke up."

"I... kind of guessed that. But you're still in there, I can tell. You might be a lot different, but I still recognize my brother."

"Well maybe you're wrong, all right! Maybe I'm not him at all, maybe I'm a completely different person! Would the other Ed be able to kill someone, and enjoy it?!? You're wrong about me."

"Don't you dare go down that path. You're still the same Ed, even if you can't remember it. And I'll be damned if I don't help you remember."

A slight smirk hinted at Ed's mouth. "Well, then I suppose there's no point in the both of us being damned..."


	3. Chapter 3

"Where's Leo? He's late, that isn't like him."

"Well, he might be a little shaken up from yesterday. After all, he did get into a fight with that vampire, from what you've told us anyway."

"I didn't think he'd just up and disappear though."

"Don't worry about it, he'll probably show up later today or tomorrow at very least."

Quince didn't like it, but he had no choice but to wait.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I could get fired, you know."

"This is the most likely place for them to have research, as they are the organization against vampires."

"But what if they don't have anything?"

"What if a meteor lands on our heads right now? Does it matter? Look, if you want me or Ed to go in, fine. Just say so."

"No, I'll do it. I know the building better than either of you."

"Ok, then you better get moving. We'll wait for you until you come back out, ok?"

"Sure."

Leo squirmed through the vent, for once glad he was slight. It was hard to wriggle through the system, but eventually he made it into the room undetected. He flicked a light on, and started flipping through files. There was a lot of information on the healing process, but nothing on a cure. He sighed, and then put everything back.

"Hello? Is there someone in there?"

Leo snapped his head up to the door, where someone was turning the handle. He dived in the nearest hiding place available, under the desk.

"Leo, I know you're in here. Come on out."

He didn't move a muscle. If they couldn't see him, there was a chance he had never been in here.

"We can do this is the easy way, or the hard way. Come on out, or I'll make you. You know you're not allowed down here without permission."

Leo held his breath when he saw feet swinging inches from his face. When had he gotten on the desk?

"Ok, I'll just call security then."

"Wait! Don't do that! I'm right here!"

The man, who Leo had never seen before, bent over to look at him.

"I was beginning to wonder when you would come on out. What are you doing down here?"

"Well... Um... You see... I had to come down here because... well..."

"You're trying to find a way to heal that vampire, aren't you? How many times do we have to tell you, kid, they aren't anything that should be saved? We thought we had this understood when you first woke up."

"Actually, I wanted to find a way to heal myself... I didn't want to go down to the infirmary because, well, it was stupid of to have gotten hurt in the first place."

"We all make mistakes kid. I'll let you go this time, but don't let me catch you again, ok?"

Leo nodded jerkily, and then left the room with the guard. Once he said goodbye, he left the building and caught up with Ed and Al, who were standing across the street and watching him. Ed smacked the vampire over the head.

"It's official, you are never going to do any sneaking ever again."

"But none of us got in trouble."

Ed started walking away from the building, leaving no other option to Al and Leo but to follow him. He had, after all, always been the leader.

"You didn't even find anything!"

"There wasn't anything _to_ find."

"There wasn't? Than what's this?"

Ed had led them to a quiet spot within the city, where they could talk without being overheard. He dropped the file at Leo's feet.

"What's this?"

"This is the way to cure our weakness to silver." Ed scratched his hair, making his bangs shake in a slightly comical fashion. "Of course, it won't work."

"Why not?"

"Well, the weakness to silver comes from our simply being inhuman and traditionally wrong. If we got rid of the weakness, we'd be releasing the full extent of our... vampirness, for lack of another word. In contrast, if we purified ourselves, we would no longer be vampires."

"So how would we purify ourselves?"

"Leo, the only way to kill a vampire is to purify it."

"Oh."

"There has to be another way then. Maybe we could send you across the gate to your other bodies?"

"Perhaps. Or maybe we could just alchemically alter ourselves, to get rid of the less than pure. Of course, that would be rather difficult, as none of us know which pieces those are, much less how to preform that kind of alchemy on a soul." Ed paused for a second. "I don't even want to begin to think how already technically being dead would affect all this."

"How do you even know all this?"

"I dunno. Legends? I just do."

"You know, sometimes I just plain don't get you."

Ed smiled. "Good."

"Remind me again why we're breaking in here?"

"Honestly Al, why _not_?"

If he was going to try and act like he wanted to become human again, and like he was going to have anything to do with their affairs, he was going to do it thoroughly.

"You do know who's house this is, right?"

"Of course. 'hey, let's go break into that house over there, just because it's there.' You can't honestly think that crossed my mind, could you?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Al said under his breath. Ed chose to ignore this, in favor of carefully removing the window pane. "You do realize that the door is probably not locked, right?"

"Of course, but what fun is that? Hehehe, almost got it."

"And tell me again why Leo has to be lowered on a harness like the spies in the movies."

"Haven't you ever wanted to do that?"

Al sighed, sometimes there was just no understanding his brother. Sometimes he would act like a mature adult, and then there were times like this when he acted like he was five. Only it was different, because he was pretty sure five year olds did not have the means to pull something like this off.

"I forget, what's the mission again?"

"It's operation GTCC. I can't tell you what the acronym stands for, if I told you I'd have to kill you." Ed gently set the glass on the floor, plain ecstatic that there was a skylight.

"Of course."

"Ok, we're set. Leo, do you want me or Al to lower you down?"

"I don't really care." Leo put the goggles over his eyes. "Are you sure this will be alright?"

"Yeah, of course. It's long overdue for me to do something like this."

When Roy Mustang went to work the next morning, he was just plain pissed. In a very rare display of anger, he stomped down the hall and stopped in front of his door.

"When I find out which one of you did it, there will be hell to pay. Understood?"

"Who did what now?"

Kain Fuery never did get his reply, but he was on the receiving end of particularly venomous glare from the Colonel before the door slammed shut behind him.

"Does anyone have any idea of what that was all about?"

"Not a clue."

The Colonel glared balefully at the crumb filled plate that sat on his desk, now completely sure of who had broken into his house and stolen the last slice of his chocolate cake. There was only one person who had the audacity to do that, the Fullmetal Alchemist. That afternoon, instead of doing his paperwork, he plotted revenge. Besides that, there was the note.

_I've always thought that the best chocolate cake was the one stole..._

Yes, this most certainly warranted revenge.


End file.
